宴 (yàn) — banquet, feast
Definition
Bound morpheme meaning 'banquet, feast' — always paired with a noun like 会, 席, or 客. It does not stand alone as a word.
bound form
banquetfeast
Examples
- 。Tā cān jiā le yí gè shèng dà de yàn huì.He attended a grand banquet.
- 。Wǒ men bèi yāo qǐng qù cān jiā yàn xí.We were invited to attend a banquet.
- 。Zhè chǎng yàn huì chí xù le sān gè xiǎo shí.This banquet lasted three hours.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
妟
妟yàn宴
Same sound today
宴 has 宀, a roof, above 妟, which shows a woman and the sun. 妟 also supplies the sound, and the whole shape pictures a woman under a roof with sunlight.
Appears in
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